Hello again-
A partial update today, more to come later in the week.
Deep:Part 15a
Author's note: Tara and Willow come face to face with the past and the future all in one. Meet the Master.
Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But you can fake it for just one more show
And what do you want?- I wanna change
And what have you got when you feel the same?
Even though I know I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold-like old job
Despite all the rage You're still just a rat in the cage
Someone will say what's lost can never be saved
Despite all the rage You're still just a rat in the cage
from Bullet with Butterfly Wings by Smashing PumpkinsDay Five: Night
Demon Reality
“Are you daft! How can you say that David Hasselhoff made a better Luke Skywalker than Mark Hamill?” The vampire who vaguely looked like Spike said to the other as Willow and Tara walked by.
“I don’t know, he just does,” the other shorter vampire whined in reply. “He’s got that sexy, I look good in leather thing about him.”
“You just like him because he’s from your reality,” the other vampire replied, taking a drag from his cigarette.
“Do not,” the other replied as the pair rounded the corner.
Willow and Tara exchanged looks, then looked up at the Agent.
“Sorry,” Agent replied. “Sometimes we get a few from other realities. They accidentally open a portal, piss off the wrong person, that sort of thing.”
“I’m still thinking about how messed up is a world that has David Hasselhoff as a huge cultural icon,” Tara said.
“Tell me about it,” Agent mumbled. “Well, here we are,” he added loudly.
The trio finally entered the main courtyard of the master’s castle. It was smaller than it looked from the long, winding mountain road they had taken to get here. But it still reeked of dark power.
“This stone is ancient,” Agent said as they crossed the large space. “Brought over from the master’s homeland brick by brink nearly two hundred years ago.” He sighed happily. “That was quite a trip.”
Tara and Willow walked along in silence, examining the world around them. The castle did look like something straight out of medieval times, complete with a moat and draw bridge that the convoy had passed over thirty minutes ago. From there, the girls had traveled on foot through a series of semi-hidden caves and passageways that had been cut into the rock. All along the way had been signs of demon or vampire activity.
The Agent led them from the courtyard into a good-sized antechamber just inside two massive oak doors. Several different hallways seemed to sprout from this room, all leading in different directions. Another set of large oaken doors were directly in front of the trio.
“Well, here it is,” Agent seemed like a little kid on Christmas morning, about to open his first present. “The great hall.”
He stepped over and pushed both doors open at once.
“Oh my,” Tara said softly.
“It’s as big as the gym was in high school,” Willow observed.
“Along here are the names of the fallen,” Agent paused at an ornately carved freestanding wall next to the doors. “Those who have given their lives for the master. It is custom for my people to stop and reflect for a moment on those who made all of this possible.”
Willow and Tara watched as the Agent bowed his head in front of the countless names carved into the stone wall.
Curious, Willow leaned in to get a better look at the names, looking for something she might recognize. “Why was this one crossed off,” Willow said, pointing at a smoothed out spot in the middle of several other names.
“We do not speak of that one,” Agent’s voice was cold. “The betrayer, the one who was turned from our kind. Fought against us long ago in the first human uprising.”
“Angel,” Willow said.
“Angelus,” Agent spat and moved on.
“Remind me about him again” Tara whispered to Willow.
“A vampire with a soul,” Willow explained. “He was cursed by Miss Calendar’s family like a hundred years ago. He went out with Buffy for a while. You didn’t meet him in your Sunnydale?”
“Nope,” Tara replied. “I did read about an Angelus in the Watcher Diaries though. Not a very nice fellow.”
“Oh no.”
The girls continued further into the massive hall. Splitting the center was a huge banquet table that looked like it could seat fifty people or more. At the head of the table was a raised platform where a thrown sat.
“Come,” Agent walked past the thrown to a small door off to the left side and behind the massive chair. “The master awaits in his study room.”
Agent pushed oven the door, revealing a smaller, more intimate room. Books lined two of the walls floor to ceiling. Directly opposite the door was a large window that held what would be a spectacular view of the countryside if day ever dawned. A large desk sat in front of the bookcase on the left. Two plush leather chairs sat in front of the right, one with it’s back to the door.
“Master,” Agent said softly, standing up strait. “May I present you with Willow and Tara.”
“Thank you my loyal Agent, that will be all.” A smooth, lightly accented baritone said from the chair.
Agent nodded at Tara and Willow and quickly left the room.
“Come in,” the voice said. “Have a seat.”
The Master, or Bracus, stood slowly and stretched like a cat. Setting the book he had been reading down on the shelf, he turned the chair so that it matched its partner by facing the desk.
“Please,” he motioned to the chairs again as his powerful form seemed to float across the room.
Tara and Willow slowly moved to the chairs and sat.
“So,” he said. “Here we are,” he smiled to himself, revealing perfectly white teeth that contrasted his olive skin drastically. “You trip was uneventful? Other than that one incident at the hotel.”
The girls nodded.
“Good,” he nodded, causing his jet-black hair to obscure his dark eyes. He brushed the unruly locks back with his hand. He looked over at his guests, studying them for a moment.
“I thought you’d be taller,” he said suddenly, chuckling slightly at his own joke. “Sorry,” he waved his hand in apology. “After so many years, one builds up expectations of those who will help to bestow godhood on you.” He sighed, “But it takes all kinds, doesn’t it.”
He looked over at Willow and Tara and waited. His ancient eyes studying the youngsters before him. “Not quite what you expected is it? Or is it too much like what you thought it would be?” he asked.
“Both,” Willow finally said.
“It’s just that,” Tara looked at Willow for reassurance.
“I look so much like you friend?” he asked.
“Yes, and no.” Tara looked closely at the vampire before her. “I sense her, yes, or what could be her, but not her. And as for looks, well, maybe a cousin?”
“Cousin, hmm,” he mulled that thought over. “Perhaps.”
“How is it that you know,” Willow asked. “About her. About Jay and all of this?”
“You don’t know?” he was surprised.
Willow and Tara shook their heads no.
“Well it’s quite an interesting and long tale. Are you sure you want to hear it after such a lengthy journey?”
“Yes, we’d like to very much,” Tara replied.
“Where to start,” he paused, thinking. “My first contact with your people, the clans, as you like to call yourselves was hundreds of years ago. Funny, I’m not exactly sure. Old age I guess.” He smiled. “At first, they were merely wanders, fumbling through this reality and others trying to learn about the demons they fought in their own world. Trying to gain an edge of some sort, I suppose. After some time, I began to recognize these clans people and we became allies of sorts. They needed information that I possessed, I needed information they possessed.”
“What sort of information,” Willow asked.
“All kinds. Some magical, some mystical, some technological, some cultural. And yes, some of the information they gave me allowed me to take over this reality. Isn’t that really what you want to know?” his sharp eyes met Willow’s surprised ones.
“Um,” Willow fumbled for a response.
“It’s okay.” He gave the red head a tight smile. “Don’t be afraid to ask, Willow. I have few secrets and have no need to lie. Honesty is still the best policy. Even a world filled with horrors such as this one. But I digress. So after many years I took control of this world and have almost wiped out the plague of man that has stood in the way of beautiful darkness. I was content, for the most part, with what my people and I had won. Happy with the world we had made after so many millennia. Then, about thirty years ago, two of your people paid me a visit.”
“Who?” Tara asked.
“Lucas Patee and a Jack Reed. You work with Lucas don’t you?”
“Yes, but he never told us this story,” Willow covered.
“Not surprising,” he said almost to himself. “It started as many of my encounters with the clans do, nothing really special. But then, the other one, Jack, seemed to recognize me from somewhere. I shrugged it off, since he didn’t look familiar to me in the least. Then they left.”
“Would you like anything?” he asked suddenly. “Where have my manners gone. A drink, a snack perhaps. I’ve had human food specially gathered and prepared for you both.”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Tara said.
“Good here,” Willow added.
“Just let me know, okay?” he waited until both girls nodded. “Several more years pass, and I had nearly forgotten the incident. Then, Lucas returned for another visit. On this trip he brought a small group of men and women with him. Representatives from the Assembly of something or the other. These people tell me that I'm in line for the thrown of prime. Needless to say I’m shocked. I know Demetrious, I tell them, and he seems in good health to me. So, this little group explained the prophecy to me. Then Lucas added that he’s discovered that in his reality, I’m some sort of ancestor of their prophecy girl, Jamison. And not just any descendent.”
“You’re her,” Tara finished, taking the wind out of his sails.
“Yes,” he gave Tara an odd look. “You know this part?”
“Very well,” Tara replied sadly.
“And this Jamison is very valuable to them. They don’t want to lose her. So they come up with a plan to switch us at the last moment.”
“But how?” Willow asked. “Doesn’t Jay have to die in order for you to take her place?”
“That is one possibility.” He replied. “I can’t tell you all of the options that were laid out to me. Demetrious is very powerful and will rip any information I give you beyond what I’ve said out of your mind, jeopardizing the whole thing.”
“Oh,” Willow replied.
“I’m sorry. Lucas told me that you two were friends with Jamison, and that you’d both be involved in the power transfer. Lucas and his people spent days laying mental barriers in my mind and it wasn’t a very pleasant experience.”
He shuttered. “I gave my word of honor that I would try not to kill Jamison unless it was the only way to for me to ascend to godhood. The cycle must end, Lucas told me, many, many times.”
“And what about after?” Tara asked. “What about this reality?”
“I’ll merge it with prime,” he replied matter of factly. “Not all the way, of course, but partially. My people will have full access to all of the pleasures that hell can offer. And the human resistance will be wiped out once and for all.”
“You know,” Willow said, yawning, “I’m feeling a little tired.” She looked at Tara.
“Yes, me too,” Tara agreed quickly. “All that travel.”
“Of course,” he stood as they stood. “I will have one of my people show you to your room. Will I see you tonight at supper?”
“Sure,” Tara replied, taking Willow’s hand.
He opened the door for them. The Agent stood at attention, waiting to show them to their room.
“Rest well ladies,” he called as he shut the door.
“Your meeting went well?” Agent asked as they left the great hall and headed down one of the many hallways that sprang from the foyer.
“Yeah, actually,” Willow replied. “He’s not bad for an evil overlord.”
Agent gave her a sharp look, but let the comment pass. He silently led them up a winding corridor to a long hallway.
“This is your room,” he stooped in front of the third door on the right. “I am across the hall with Darla. If you need anything, just call.”
“Thanks,” Tara replied, giving the Agent a small smile.
Willow pushed open the door to reveal a large room, dominated by a massive bed in the center. On either side behind the bed were narrow windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. A door which lead to the bathroom was on the left.
“In here,” Agent opened a door just off to the right of the room’s entrance. “Are changes of clothes if you so wish.” He looked at the girls, still dressed in the same body armor and gear they had been wearing for the last five days. “I’m guessing that you might want to get out of that and into something more comfortable.” He gave them a wink.
“Dinner is starts at eight.” Agent closed the closet door. “It’s a lengthy affair, so don’t feel that you have to be prompt.”
“Thanks,” Willow called as Agent shut the door to their room.
“This is nice,” Willow said, plopping down on the bed. “Much better than sleeping in the car.”
Tara shimmered out of her fighting gear. “Oh yeah,” she joined her loved on the bed.
Willow shimmered out of her gear as well, leaving them both in the street clothes they picked out just before heading to Angel’s mansion in Sunnydale.
“So what do you think of the ‘master’?” Willow imitated Agent’s tone when she said the name.
“Deceptive,” Tara replied. “Powerful, smooth, charming, and deceptive.”
“Do you think he’s lying about Lucas?”
“No I don’t,” Tara replied, leaning back. “We need to be careful around him.”
“Oh yeah,” Willow joined Tara in her reclined position. “Xander’d be his butt monkey in no time.”
Tara chuckled. “I am feeling a little tired Will. Do you mind if we sleep a little before dinner?”
“With the most beautiful girl in the world?” Willow gave Tara a huge grin. “How can I refuse?”
TBC
"I was feared and worshiped across the mortal globe. At now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High. Mortal. Child. And I'm failing Math." Anya in Dopplegangland
Though he's very popular in Germany, especially his singing
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Only manage to read pens during weekends on sometimes very shortly during the week. Having to actually *work* for money sucks at times, heh 
